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Just to give you all a heads up...

The site will be down for maintenance for a short time within the next 10-15 minutes. When it goes down, it will be down for up to an hour.






Site will be done for maintenance this morning: click here to read the entire thread »

The group emoticons just count as one.

The reason for the 3-emoticon limit per post is to help page-load time for members with slow internet connections, and to conserve site resources and keep the site free to use.

So far, the new emoticons are seen only when you login to the connectingsingles.com site, but they will be available everywhere shortly as all site pages are reworked.

Forum colors: background color has been added to the reading areas of the forum to make the pages easier on your eyes.

Ubuntu, when you use your cool new plasma monitor for your computer, are the colors much different from your old monitor? Rather than change the resolution, you can resize the page - double click the top blue bar of your browser, then grab the right side of the site page with your mouse and move it to the left.

Builderbear, locked threads sink out of sight because they can't be posted to. They are left visible so members can see why posting on them has been suspended.

Your seven most recent forum posts are displayed at the bottom of your profile page and the rest can be viewed by clicking either the "My Forum Posts" or "My Forum Threads" links at the top of the profile page... good incentive not to post anything you wouldn't want displayed there.



* Forum changes will be installed tonight *: click here to read the entire thread »

There is a flower message that says "Join me in the forums" you could send to members, but it may not say enough.

Let us know if you can think of something better and we will add it to the flower shop.


Seeking suggestions: click here to read the entire thread »

Thanks everyone for your feedback. We're still working out some items but glad to hear you are finding the old things in the new places.

We made some changes based on your feedback here and added some emoticons you asked for. When you post, click on the "More Emoticons" link to see them.

I am posting this in the two threads where similar questions were asked.


Galactic_bodhi: We added a "talk to the hand" emoticon.

Busdriver: There already is an emoticon for blues and one for moping , but we added another one for you as well:

bookumdanom1: We added an emoticon with a cape around his neck.

Konigsberg: No emoticons were removed. They are all still there.

Ulimaroa: We added many of the virtual bar and party related icons you've mentioned.

Fireliter: The font-sizes have not changed, for the most part. Are there some items in particular you are having trouble reading, or is it everything on the page? (only the usernames on the threads page are slightly smaller than they used to be.)

outdoorannie: You stated there are no headings. Do you mean on the page itself, or for each post? There are breadcrumbs at the top of each page to show you where you are. However, because of your feedback, we've added some extra information on the top of each page, to make it clear what thread name and category name you are in.

Dixrog: Editing would totally change what was being said at the time. Deleting would affect the flow and cause confusion for those who read it later.

Spell check: Forum posting is sometimes fast paced and it's hard to keep up and watch spelling, etc. but members usually take this into consideration when reading.

Ubuntu: I assume you have a high resolution big screen monitor. Forum pages are full width now so text-width grows and shrinks with the size of your browser window. You can fix this by shrinking your browser window or changing to a lower resolution. Then the text won't go so far to the right.

Assets52: Thanks, we have fixed the search.


Opinios about the new image of the forums...: click here to read the entire thread »

Thanks everyone for your feedback. We're still working out some items but glad to hear you are finding the old things in the new places.

We made some changes based on your feedback here and added some emoticons you asked for. When you post, click on the "More Emoticons" link to see them.

I am posting this in the two threads where similar questions were asked.


Galactic_bodhi: We added a "talk to the hand" emoticon.

Busdriver: There already is an emoticon for blues and one for moping (), but we added another one for you as well

bookumdanom1: We added an emoticon with a cape around his neck.

Konigsberg: No emoticons were removed. They are all still there.

Ulimaroa: We added many of the virtual bar and party related icons you've mentioned.

Fireliter: The font-sizes have not changed, for the most part. Are there some items in particular you are having trouble reading, or is it everything on the page? (only the usernames on the threads page are slightly smaller than they used to be.)

outdoorannie: You stated there are no headings. Do you mean on the page itself, or for each post? There are breadcrumbs at the top of each page to show you where you are. However, because of your feedback, we've added some extra information on the top of each page, to make it clear what thread name and category name you are in.

Dixrog: Editing would totally change what was being said at the time. Deleting would affect the flow and cause confusion for those who read it later.

Spell check: Forum posting is sometimes fast paced and it's hard to keep up and watch spelling, etc. but members usually take this into consideration when reading.

Ubuntu: I assume you have a high resolution big screen monitor. Forum pages are full width now so text-width grows and shrinks with the size of your browser window. You can fix this by shrinking your browser window or changing to a lower resolution. Then the text won't go so far to the right.

Assets52: Thanks, we have fixed the search.


* Forum changes will be installed tonight *: click here to read the entire thread »

Thanks for your encouragement. This has been a long night...

The changes have been made now. Let us know if you have any problems with the forum or blog pages.


* Forum changes will be installed tonight *: click here to read the entire thread »

FYI

Just a heads up that we will be installing some changes to the forum within the next few hours. The look will be slightly different from what you are used to here, and there will also be a few minor changes. Other changes will come later.

Most of the changes will be obvious to you. Mostly you'll need to notice that the forums navigation has been moved to the top left sidebar.

Getting used to changes is hard to do sometimes but we hope you'll give this time and a good try, and think you'll see it as an improvement after you use it for awhile.

Bear with us while we iron out any bugs. Contact Us if you find any.


* Forum changes will be installed tonight *: click here to read the entire thread »

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. We're glad to have you on the site and in the forums.

Fireliter: Don’t worry about mistakes and advance apologies. You wouldn't be banned for mistakes. It’s only when there is intent to cause trouble or repeatedly breaking rules. Intentions are usually obvious because staff is not involved with what is going on and is impartial, and because member reports show the situation from both sides. We do not like banning people, obviously we are here to connect members, not get rid of them.

Butterfly and Assets52: The photo is a symbol of connecting people that is being used on the site, shirts, etc.

Bulldog66: We value each and every one of our members, and we try to always be fair. But, we don't feel that any one member or group is "key" to the success or failure of the site, or has the power to make or break the forum. Members that were removed wanted to manipulate staff with protest. That won’t work. We want people who 'want' to be here, who are not in constant power struggles with staff and others. We feel that a forum that may be slower for a while is better than a hostile one and that it is much better off without self-righteous cliques and pack attacks.

Korangen: Bleach... forgetaboutit... I’ve tried it... it doesn’t work.

Ubuntu: hmmm, well, 1 out of 3 isn’t bad, right?

Ninamoosha and Galactic_bodhi: Thanks for the acknowledgement and empathy for the work involved. It’s hard not to get discouraged and mistrust when people go from glowing tributes for a place they’ve found friends, to hateful angry displays. But that’s life, isn’t it… full of relationships of all kinds. When one fails, we get over it, work harder, and move on. Everyone can empathize with that… that's why everyone is here… and that's what everyone is working on… moving on.

To all of you who posted: Thanks for your kind words and feedback. CS staff are real people who work hard and care about members, and it makes them feel good to hear your words of encouragement and support.


SETTING SOME RECORDS STRAIGHT...: click here to read the entire thread »

Thanks Rebecca9. Jack, we hope you will feel comfortable now to join in and post more often. Jan, we always welcome constructive comments. I will try to address them.

The forums are a very minor part of the population here with forum usage being ever changing and somewhat cyclical. And, of course, dating is our main focus here.

If you are bored with the forum right now, it may be time to take some time away, or concentrate on making friendships in the dating area for awhile.

As I stated, all members are treated equally and reports can only generate staff attention to offending threads when they are actually sent to us.

The audience of the forums is widely varied and diverse. Unfortunately all the threads cannot satisfy all the people, all the time. As we have said before, ‘You (all of you) are the forums. The forums are you.’ The threads and posts reflect the forum membership. But an ‘attitude’ can be developed, or changed, by just a few angry or controlling posters. And when staff decisions are constantly fought by this verbal few followed by their flock, it is difficult to maintain a quality fun environment. We agree, it’s unfortunate in this case where many good posters did get swept away due to being misled and recruited by the small angry core group that caused this.

If you do not find threads of interest to you, you have the choice of not posting for a time or starting some threads on topics you DO enjoy discussing. We are, however, working on a way to separate the forum categories a little more, to allow everyone to have their own style without being annoyed by a different style of others.

We are very optimistic about the future here. Of course, whether or not you choose to help create the place you seek, is up to each one of you.



SETTING SOME RECORDS STRAIGHT...: click here to read the entire thread »

Continued…..

If you are having personal problems with another member, we don't want it in the forums. It’s gossip and creates an unfriendly environment of mistrust. We have said over and over again, report it to "Contact Us", or deal with it through private email. The forums are not the place to air dirty laundry or to get even with others who you feel have wronged you! This is a dating site, not a perfect world. All too often, some people feel that ‘all is fair in love and war’. Not true…games and deceit are unfortunate and wrong. But be aware, this happens in your online relationships as well as offline. It is foolish to believe that email-promises ensure a commitment or chain a soul. Your online lover is not under your control and does not become your personal property.

Some of these people who have been using the site long term seem to be bitter that the site is "making money from ads”, and have posted nasty things about this in the forums. Heaven forbid that this quality service would make any money! These ungrateful people have such a sense of entitlement and are so bitter and so angry; they can't even accept that a website has to support itself! Just because the site is free to use, does not mean it is free to run. This is a FREE site, we don't charge you anything, ever… but the site has bills just as you do. Running and maintaining this site is very costly. No one is making huge money here… trust us! If the complainers who spout this garbage had been paying even a penny a day for the endless hours they have spent here, we would be though!

So, anyway, many have gone, but the good news is that the best are left… and many new interesting singles are joining each day. For those remaining, we are glad you are here. We’re sorry that you are having to deal with these current problems, but hang in there… good things are planned and happening. We are busy working on improvements to the forums, adding a public/private chat system, and videos are in the future.

Those that tell you that you can’t say anything or speak your mind here are lying to you. Read the rules. We expect you to know them. Think before you post. Then enjoy the site and have fun making friends here.

If you miss your friends who are gone, and you are looking for someone to blame…blame the people who are responsible for this, who played you like pawns in their own control games, who were not here looking for dates but a flock to follow them. These people were here because they were bored and wanted to play games and think it’s fun to cause trouble.
Don’t blame us. We simply did what we had to do



SETTING SOME RECORDS STRAIGHT...: click here to read the entire thread »

We have very simple rules on this forum. The most important rules are:

1) Don't use these forums to bash our site (a reasonable rule...having nothing to do with free speech.) This site is 100% FREE and mostly run by volunteers who don’t deserve that abuse. If you really don't like the site, simply leave.

2) Don't bash our members. Treat others with respect.

Some members have not followed these simple rules, and made it their goal to cause trouble in these forums. They have been removed but are now trying to recruit others to protest and to cause more trouble on the site. All members involved in this are being removed without notice.

This site is better off without the negative influence these cliques have had, posting their angry gossip, and ignoring the input of intelligent members who had meaningful contributions and tried to join in. New people who have been put off by this group’s immature constant fighting and exposes’, etc. will hopefully now feel comfortable posting in the forums. It may take awhile, but it will happen.

Meanwhile, it does not help to post threads saying "where is everyone?", "people are dropping like flies" etc. etc. These threads (and sometimes the posters) are being removed, since their sole purpose is to stir up trouble here and keep problems alive.

It is surprising that those who have been allowed so much freedom and used these resources totally without charge for so long, have so little respect for the site that connected them; and they have become so obsessed with causing trouble here instead of simply going on with their lives.

We are looking forward to a fresh start now and a whole new interesting group of forum posters. Don’t be concerned if the forums are slower for awhile. We truly care about our members, and want you to have a good experience here. We will not tolerate scammers, spammers, and people who cause trouble for others. Regardless of their claims, don’t be misled by disgruntled members who try to dissuade you with lies and false rumors to support and justify their own agenda. A small obsessive number depend on the blind-following of others to carry out their vendetta. The site has automated systems in place to protect against scammers and spammers. This is not different from other sites. The claims about censoring and privacy issues are simply NOT true.

Forum rules are basic and common sense, and we allow members a great deal of freedom in their posting. Our forums are not heavily moderated, and we don't baby-sit them. To keep this site totally free, staff is kept small and focuses their limited time on improvements and growth. They respect member’s intelligence and ability to police themselves, and they just don't have time to hold hands in the forums. They only step in when complaints are received or there is trouble. If you cause trouble, you will be removed. You are adults, you know the rules. We are not your parents, we’re not going to constantly warn you and warn you. If you break the rules, we will remove you. If you are bashing the site, we WILL remove it. This is about abuse of site rules and resources, not free speech! This is a private club, and we will not allow you to use our forum to bash or abuse the very platform provided to you without charge. If you don't like this site, you are as free to leave as you were to join. Plain and simple... leave! We don't want people here who are nasty, negative, bitter and have nothing better to do than spread hate about the site and other members.

Some of these members feel that rules here were not consistently applied in every case. We treat all members equally, but some things in the forums are missed by staff and members have not reported it.. until it is used to justify other bad behavior. We can only address problems we know about.




to continue...


SETTING SOME RECORDS STRAIGHT...: click here to read the entire thread »